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1999 May 11

Interview with The Punisher.
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Netmonkey Weekly Report Issue XLVII May 11th, 1999 g#S$ d. ____ ascii by garflozzy ____ $$$: -- ,$b ----- $$$ ___ $$$$$s __ :$$l $',$$$$.`$$ :$$$._l$$: ,s#S$$$$: $$$"╚$$b.`╚$i $$$ ',$$'└$$,`$ l$$$T$$$$._ --------- l$$$$$$$$ :$$l b,`Y$$,`l l$$.d$P . └$$,` $$l" $$$▓T$S#g._ ----------- ░░░░░░░░░ :$$$$$$$l l$$: $$b.`Y$$, :$$$$' d$b └$$,d$$: :$$l ,.`"▓T$S# ░░░░░░░░░ $$$$$$$: $$$ :$$$$. Y$$.s$$$' d$$$b '$$$$l l$$: l$'.d$$' $$$$$$$. $$$ l$$$$$. $$$Sl$' d$$$$$b '$$$: :$$l .'.d$$' $$$$$$l :$$l $$$$$$l l$$::P :$$$$$$$b.`$l l$$: ~~~~~~~ ------------------ l$$: ------- :$$l.' ---------- `: ;$$l --------------------- $$$ ░░░░░░░ .l$$ :: ~~~~ │ $$S#s,$$$ ::: ``^"▓Y$$$ `Y$ [ n ] ETMONKEY [ W ] EEKLY [ R ] EPORT Ahh yes..no webpage and no story! Golden promises webpage by thursday though..so who knows. I stick to my word of finishing up the tdp story if and when our page goes up. So you get to look forward to that, this week we have another jam packed game report by Blitz..with lots of interviews from people you rarely see interviewed. Ryche did a DTD interview..(they do porn as if I have to tell any of you) -Lester [Co-Editor/Head Writer] Hey sluts! We got a sweet issue this week.. Blitz busts out some crazy interviews this week, you definately need to check them out. Along the theme of blitz's interview's our "Blast From the Past" section features a few old names from the razor1911 past... good reading for all you kids!! A good friend of ours sent us a picture that he SWEARS is bandido.. that pic (bandido.jpg) is included, as is a cute pic of glen's mom. Also fitting in with our "Blast from the Past" article, we've included the original HBD .nfo from one of their last great releases, "Diablo".. Read the "cracking notes" section for some interesting info.. Ryche is back this week, with his VCD shiat, as well as another pr0n group interview, and a mainstream media article about piracy and TPM... Beats the fuck out of me where bud is, he's awol 2 weeks in a row.. Thanks to zeus(NotZeus?), and the staff of www.socalsys.com (#socalsys) for the bounce that i've been looking for... Check them out of you are in need of scene related shit: bounces, webspace, shells, etc... Thanks to glen for the weektops this week, and i wanna say hi to horde, and thx for adding me to your bitchin' bot.. <g> Slow week kiddies... no news is good news.. take care.. ndetroit [Co-Editor/Head Fatass] -----------[ index ]----------- I.) Intro a) Lester b) ndetroit II.) Quotes of the Week III.) Stats - Ndetroit's Weekly Stats, and comments on Sites. IV.) Lester's Biased Courier Report V.) Articles a) Prozac's Kinda Biased Games Report b) Bud's Biased Utils Report c) Lesters Moview Reviews d) VCD Group and Movie Reviews e) Blast From the Past! VI.) Scene News - All the news that's fit to print VII.) Rumors! VIII.) Closing ---------------------[ Quotes of the Week! ]--------------------- -*** FiXXXerX ([email protected]) has joined #TPC <FiXXXerX> This shitty group on AOL upped Thrust Twist'n Turn <FiXXXerX> yes there is an AOL group called TPC <FiXXXerX> is it you? -<FredDurst> who wants to join my new psx/iso/vcd group? <teacher> i will join <teacher> only if i dont have to send you that new bangles greatest hits cd -<Caserd> i love to telnet! <Caserd> one of america's favorite pastimes is telneting -<X-Frog> man <X-Frog> there was a real bomb today @ my school <X-Frog> so i skipped <PenisRock> bad frog <X-Frog> and masturbated in the mall's bathroom -* mrp__ is away... [Reason/i am an idiot bbl] [Messages/ON] -- (NZT) <_tczzz> couldnt agree more <_tczzz> ;) -<glenner> no, its actually the pics of my mom <glenner> i hope we are blessed with another one this week <glenner> <ndetroit> pffff rename mgdgf.jpg glensmom.jpg -<[Shinobi]> ndetriot - You better grab a couple of corks, before you go to San Fran. -----------[ ndetroit's sites and stats section ]----------- Hey hey hey... lets learn about sites and shit.. ;p E still not back.. and someone from OGN told me this week that E was only ever the the *Temp* OGN WHQ... heh.. wtf is that all about? Oh well.. it still ain't back, so... I guess we have pretty much fallen into the predictable pattern of the top 3 sites in the world being FS, STH, and FH, with ET a close 4th... The 5th is up for grabs, i guess.... Top 2 sites in the US have gotta be TOS and ATX... TOS is very well supported, and has the nice Class/Siege/DEV affils.. ATX is the whq for a couple of good groups, VGC, and OGN, as well as the (dead?) cracking group, KAC.. Word has it that mgoh is set to bring TV back for a(74th?)nother go at it... He's lost count of how many incarnations of TV there has been, so this one is just gonna be called "TVx"... no word on whether or not TViSO will return with it... Speaking of mgoh, he has a new site up called.... "SEX".. not overly sure what that stands for, but it's already up, and has Gcrack and SCUM affils already.. Cheaters beware--the sitebot announces bad-disks and restarts... ouch!! FF = down perm after HW problems?... i heard its only an "upgrade", and it'll be back.. Not new news, but i haven't reported it here yet... SS is back up on a PHAT PHAT super-fast .fi link.. Affils are CORP/DSi.. SS used to be MnM whq.. not sure if they took MnM back.. doubt it. I threw DF3 into the charts this week, cause i basically needed another good US site to round out the charts, and it has a "site lastwkup" command... LAZY SITEOPS, CODE THAT SHIT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT.. ;p House Of God is another good site included this week... LND/MFD, RZR, and AV are the affils there.. Apparently it has a pretty out of control daemon, HOGFTPD... The one cool feature of it that like is the "site vote" system that they have implemented.. Users can vote every week on certain site policies.. Cool idea. Oh, and some other late-breaking site news: MDK is back!!... the daemon is up, its on the same link, and will be 2kadWHQ, DMS HQ, and gcrack HQ among others.. good to see... contact your favorite MDK siteop for further details! Siteops!! send your weektops to: [email protected]... Thanks to all those that support us every week... ;) =--------------------------------------------------------------------------= Sites are rated on a 3X and 2X scale.. if you want to know why we do it that way, read an old issue. Couriers get 10 points per site they get #1 on, 9 points for 2nd place, 8 points for 3rd, etc, etc. Sites are rated by us. If you don't like the ratings, then.... heh... fuck off and die.. =--------------------------------------------------------------------------= The Top Ten sites for this week are: x3 FS -*- STH -*- ET -*- FH -*- CAT x2 DLS -*- HOG -*- TOS -*- ATX -*- DF3 ---=NETMONKEY COURiER REPORT=--- trader group FS STH ET FH CAT DLS HOG TOS ATX DF3 pts pos ------------------------------------------------------------------- godbless DEV 4 1 1 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 147 [1] tc DEV 6 2 3 0 2 5 0 3 0 0 121 [2] cedric AOD 2 3 5 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 113 [3] garoto DEV 3 4 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 103 [4] zarkof AOD 7 8 6 0 6 4 0 0 0 0 65 [5] kruzin DMS 0 0 8 0 5 6 0 0 5 0 49 [6] jaydee DEV 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 [7] nightsky AOD 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 34 [8] bud VLN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 32 [9] dscman DSC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 32 [9] * = no weektop this week. * = no weektop this week. =--------------------------------=--------------------------------------= -----------[ Lester's Biased Courier Section ]----------- Biased Bullshit AOD: Cedric and Blaze and a few other boys. Still, relying so heavily on Cedric is only going to lead them into trouble when he finally decides to take a break. The picked up Dthangel from DMS and that's about all the changes this week. AV: Kind of winding down from the merger excitement. Jess is still preing and Manioc is up on a couple weektops here and there. But they are slowly heading back to the land of the idle I think Devotion: Dev is still going strong..no changes this week and basically just so long as they get to pre and GB/Garo are around..they will be on top. Officedog joined dev..that's right..so they gained another pre guy! Dimension: A little better this week, some signs of life from the dismal performance of the past 2 weeks. Have started off this new week with even more positive things. Gregk joined from MNM. No other changes other than the mass cuts. MNM: Mossyjoke is back at his pftp game..been trading 1 day and already caught slowupping..how sad. I know the report sucks..sorry, I'm rushed preparing for my big day of trying to get Star Wars tix..I vow to be back to normal next week..:) =----------------------------------=--------------------------------------= -----------[ Articles ]----------- =----------------------------------=--------------------------------------= -----------[ Prozac's Kinda Biased Gaming Report]----------- Prozac = at E3, doing his behind-the-scenes NWR coverage of the games world's BIGGEST event of the year.. He is working hard, taking notes, dispatching reports, and interviewing notables... (Note to prozac: that expense report that you sent me that had "screaming orgasm x 24" in it... was that the drink? and why did it cost so much for just a few shooters...?) In place of the roving-reporter, we bring you: THE BLITZ REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF 05/03/99 - 05/10/99 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prozac is still on vacation, so I'm back again this week with my third issue of NWR. The week that was wasn't the most active, but we do see a game-of-the- month candidate from Origin in Expendable. ▄██▀██▄ ▐█▄ █▄ ▐██▌ ▐██▌ ▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▐█▓▌▓█▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀ ▀ ▐██▌ ▐██▌██▄▀█▀██▄▀██▄▐█▀▐█▓▌▄ ▐█▀██▄▀▄██▄ ▐██▌▄██▀ ▐▓█▌▌ ██▓ ▐██▌▌ ▐██▌██ ▌ ▐██▌█ ██▌ ▐██▌ ▄██▀▄██▌▌ ▄▄▄▀▄██▌ ▐██▌██▌ ▐██▌█ ▐██ ▐██▌▐██▌ ▐█▓▌▌▐██▌ ▐█▓▌▌ ▐█▓▌█▓▌▌ ▐█▓▌█ ▐█▓ ▐██▌ ▀██▄█▀█▌█▄▀██▄█▀█▌█▄██▀▄██▌█▄▐█▓▌▀ ██▓ ==============================▄▄▄=▐██▌===== ▀███▄███ ▀▀▀▀▀ Points Release Title ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2.0 Puma_Street_Soccer-PARADiGM (44.8M) 2.0 Puzzle_Bobble_2X-PARADiGM (2.7M) 3.0 Final_Odyssey-PARADiGM (23.8M) 2.0 The.Operational.Art.Of.War.2.LOADGAME.FIX-PARADiGM (0.0M) 0.5 Warzone_2100_Update_v1.01b-PARADiGM (0.7M) 0.0 Official_Formula_1_Real_D3D_Fix-PARADIGM (0.0M) 0.0 Official_Formula_1_Racing_Fix-PARADiGM (2.6M) --- 9.5 Paradigm owned the week with their standard all-around releasing. About the only thing they didn't manage this week was a trainer, probably their weakest area. Puma Street Soccer probably deserves a little more than a 2.0, but frankly that's enough soccer games thank you very much. Puzzle Bobble 2X is another sub-par title that was just good enough for the PDM stamp of approval. Their biggest release of the week was another RTS game for your collection. Final Odyssey is a mediocre game, but let's face it... this week was Expendable and not much else. PDM got the quantity and pull down first place on numbers. PDM stole CLS's points for The Operational Art of War II. CLS was docked the entire 4.0 for failing to fix a game within a reasonable amount of time. The two F1 racing fixes were deducted last week, so they won't hurt them now. The patch team got yet another Warzone patch (how buggy is this game anyway?). __ ______ ______ ____ _____ ____ _____ \// _ \ _ \_\__/ _ \_\__/_\_ \ / / / / /. / / / / / / \______/ \____|_/\___ /___/___/ / --------|___|---------/____\------/____\- One of the biggest titles Origin has ever landed, Expendable makes their week (and month most likely). Nothing at all from the rest of the team all week, it makes you wonder why there are more than 5 members in this group. The trainer/patch/USA teams have almost nothing to show for May thus far. The long-anticipated arrival of Cyric from Razor finally happened, giving this group more punch in Europe. Still no USA suppliers around, but a step in the right direction to be sure. After being snubbed by Smokey for PDM, Origin had to be feeling good about getting this proven supplier over PDM and CLS. Give the assist to TK4, but we'll hold the fanfare until Cyric manages a title in his new group. Points Release Title ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5.0 Expendable-ORIGIN --- 5.0 ______ /| ___ /\______ /\______ / \/ | / _ \ / _____/ _____> / |_ / |/ | \\____ \ \____ \ < | < / | / | \/ | \ \ _____\_<____|___\_____ /\_____ / +=\/======================\/=======\/==+ Class ties with Origin for the week on the back of one release plus extras. Shattered Light is yet another RPG in the sea of RPG's we already have. I've heard it spoken very highly of, but it looked pretty run of the mill to me. Regardless, it's a fine game to try out if you have finished the award-winners already. RPG's take up so much time I can't see anyone picking this up over LOL3 or Baldur's Gate, but I guess this one got ripped. Four points with the addon. Class shows a little attention to detail with a patch for Expendable. Really a minor thing, but let's give credit for the small touches. Joystick is nice with this one, so it's not irrelevant at all. Note that last week's Championship Manager 3 "fix" was actually a patch. It wouldn't change anything though, since a NT patch or fix still means nothing except someone gave a shit to make it. Points Release Title ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3.0 Shattered_Light-CLS (143.0M) 1.0 Shattered_Light_Addon-CLS (13.7M) 0.5 Shattered_Light_v1.20_Update_Cracked-CLS (3.5M) 0.5 Expendable_Joystick_patch-CLS (0.3M) --- 5.0 /\______ /\______ ____/\______ __ \____ \/ \__ \/ _ \____ \ __/ \____ / _/ _/ \/ / / / _/ _// / / / / / / \ \ /\ / /\ / / \ \/ /\ / / / \__/\ \/ \______\___/\__/\ \/ / /_/_/ ======\___)===\__)============\___)=\/======= Another ho-hum week for Razor. With ttol gone now, how could any group expect to go on? Check the interview with The Punisher for more insight on what's going on inside the scene's oldest group. Points Release Title ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0.5 CORSAIRS_UPDATE_PATCH_CRACKED-RAZOR (0.3M) --- 0.5 ▄ ████ ▄▄■▀█▄▄▄ ▀████▀ ▄▄ ▀███▄▄■▄██▄▄ ▀▀█ ▀███▀ ████ ▐████ ▀███▌ ▐█████▀ █ ▀ ▄▄▄▄█ sQz▐███▌ █████▀ ███▌▄██▀▀▀ ▄██▄▄ ▄██████ <<====▀▀■▀▀ == ▄████▌==== ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀████▀▀ =>> t h e p l a █████▀ y e r s c l u b The Player's Club decided to make me look like an idiot for saying anything half decent about them. Nothing this week at all. C'mon guys let's get the ball rolling, Prozac and I are cheering you on. ┌─── ███ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ░▒▓ ▄▄▄ ▀▀▀▀██▄ ▀▀▀▀██▄┐ │ ▄█▄███ ▀▀▀ ███ ▒▓█ ▀▀▀ ▓▒░ ███ ░▒▓ ▓██│ │███ ▓██ ▓▒░ ██▓ ▓██ ░▒▓ █▓▒ ▓██ ▒▓█▀▀▀ │ :██▓ ▒▓█ █▓▒ ██▓ ███ ▒▓█ ██▓ ▓██ ▓██ ░▒▓: │██▓ ░▒▓ ██▓ ███ ███ ▓██ ███ ▓██ ███ ▒▓█│ │▀██▄▄▄▄▄███ ▀█▄█▀ ███ ███ ███ ███▄▓█▀│ Divine made it back into NWR this week, but not in the way they would like. If sites nuked games for minor updates like they do for utils, Heretic 2 v1.06 would be nuked anyway. But DVN had a better way to get themselves negative points, how about we pack without the nfo file? Shit, even Warrior remembers the nfo file (what happened to those guys anyway?). To cap it all off, our good friend ttol, ex of Razor managed to put out a dupe of ASS. Yes folks, sites everywhere were spewing out [NUKED] DUPE_ASS. The couriers could hardly contain themselves. Rumours that the release was stolen from an ASS dropsite are as yet uncomfirmed. Points Release Title ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -1.0 3D_MS_Maze_Tropical_Adventures-DVN *NUKED* -0.5 Heretic2_Enhancement_Pack_v1.06-DVN *NUKED* ~~~ -1.5 ============================================================================ Well, this week's first interviewee needs no introduction. He's the leader of Razor 1911 and one of the best suppliers the scene has ever witnessed. Currently retired on his own island in the South Pacific, The Punisher took some time to speak on a variety of issues for our readers. <NWR> Hello Punisher, and thank you for agreeing to do a NWR games interview this week. Let's start off by stating your full nick and past and current affils. <The Punisher> The Punisher - Razor 1911, Drink or Die. <NWR> Razor 1911 is indisputibly the best known name in scene history. How did you come to join Razor 1911, and what is your position there currently? <The Punisher> Actually, the story behind me joining Razor is kind of interesting. I didn't want anything to do with the scene originally, however I decided to donate a 4 gig SCSI drive to a Razor site back in 95 to be able to leech what I wanted when I wanted. Turns out I was forced to earn my credits, (still trying to figure that one out), having time on my hands then I smoked all the current couriers upload stats on the sites and was invited to join Razor as a courier by my friends Vitas and Sir Alf. So I was couriering for a good while and doing quite well at it when I managed to figure out how I could supply Razor with the original Quake. After succesfully doing so, I decided supplying was my route to the top. Many titles and a year later, I supplied Red alert (c) Westwood Studios and TSR decided to make that title his going away ride. With his retirement came my getting the opportunity to run the group. I have since retired and returned and now I am in a state of limbo. I still run the group, but not like I used to. <NWR> Like so many in the scene, you got your start as a courier. You are probably one of the last people who I would have expected to start as one. I was not around when the scene made the transition to the internet. What is your take on the transition from BBS's to sites? Has it hurt or helped the scene? <The Punisher> I've always been a person who believed in the theory that a good leader will lead by example. "Follow me!" instead of "Go ahead!" I started as low as I could possibly go and earned my way up. I got a lot of grief from others who weren't couriers that liked to put me down at the time saying I was just a simpleton courier, but after beating every supplier on their own turf (their best company to get games from), and being voted #1 PC game supplier of all time, I think I've proven my point. As far as BBS's and the Internet I believe it's a mixed bag. The BBS's were much more secure and personal, people know who each other were. Scene parties were much more flagrant and get togethers were encouraged between the elites. Now it's terrifying if someone get's your phone number let alone your full name. I'm not going to bag on the internet however, it has revolutionized the scene in more ways then one. It has brought everyone mainstream and given even the newbies a fighting chance against the old conglomerate groups like Razor, Class, Paradigm etc. I think that competition breeds quality and revised methods of thinking. Something we didn't have with the boards. <NWR> Quake and Red Alert are both huge titles. What other blockbusters have you been able to bring in for Razor? <The Punisher> Oh hell, let me think...Heavy Gear, Comanche 3, Star Wars Rebellion, Interstate 76, Grand Prix Legends, recently Midtown Madness and Xwing Alliance, over 140 titles altogether from me. However, I seriously doubt anyone wants to read about me patting myself on the back... <NWR> It's good that you bring up X-Wing and Midtown Madness, because I was going to ask you about those two titles in particular. My collegue Prozac and I have noticed Razor tends to still have the ability to find the top titles like those, Starcraft Brood Wars, and others. With the resources to get titles like that, why aren't we seeing more quantity to go with the quality? <The Punisher> Well, I'll be honest. There is a lot of talent in Razor with no one to guide it or hone it into a blade, (excuse the pun), I had more time when I wasn't concentrating on my career and paying off all those fucking bills. I guess the time hasn't come for someone to take the initiative to carry the group to a new level. I come around when I can and supply what I can when I have time, but that's not enough to keep a group alive. <NWR> What do you say to the critics of Razor, those who say "they aren't what they used to be? Is it unfair to compare the Razor of today to the great teams of the past? <The Punisher> For the most part the scene today is based on groups revolving around one to two insiders with the occasional store pickup. Class does it with Hemp, Prozac and Skill and Paradigm with Leno, Zeus, Drizzt... Razor, with yours truely being the lucky person and Origin claims not to rely on one or two people but at the same time they can't compete in the US market and never will without USA insiders. So no, it's not fair to compare... in the past Razor had a team of suppliers and crackers instead of one or two to count on. If one method fails, goto another if all else fails call the insider and get it from him. A chain reaction so to speak of supply methods. That still exists but not as effectively. <NWR> If the groups today are indeed supported mainly by a few people, why do we still see 20-30 members in each group? What do the rest of the people do? <The Punisher> Different things I guess...cannon fodder on one hand, or card suppliers, organizers, couriers, people that used to do shit and dont anymore, people that promise to do shit and never do and a few of them are actually friends you enjoy having around. <NWR> A lot of the people in other groups were surprised to see ttol as a Razor member this month. From what I understand, he was at least partially responsible for your release of a dupe last week. One of your other active suppliers left to join Origin, apparently over some mishap with ttol as well. Although it was rumoured that Cyric was leaving Razor for some time, what happened there, and why was ttol offered membership in the first place? <The Punisher> Actually, I don't know why he was invited to join Razor and he was responsible for the dupe that he stole from TPC's shell unbeknownst to any other Razor members. Cyric left because of those actions he says but he joined Origin awfully quick. Since I'm familiar with the recruiting game, I'm willing to bet it would have happened anyhow. TTOL was given the boot and life goes on. <NWR> It seems that Paradigm and Class have really broken free from the rest of the groups this year. Origin does their UK games, and Razor does the odd big title, but those two groups take all the rest. Why do you think that we're seeing two groups dominating like this? In the past we would see 4-5 groups putting out titles, but now it's a surprise when a US game is not put out by PDM or CLS. <The Punisher> They've got the talent, the determination, and the force. (couldn't resist since Phantom Menace is so close). Realistically, they are on the swing this year and more power to them. Things change and people change, it will happen and you will see different outcomes as always. <NWR> The scene is constantly in flux, as you mentioned. Groups rise and fall, and suppliers come and go. Yet Razor's membership stands virtually unchanged month after month. Is Razor still seeking fresh blood? Who will carry the torch in 2000 if you are semi-retired? <The Punisher> Good question, if you find someone with a decent resume... please send him my way. :) I'm not sure really...only time will tell and I may be back full swing sometime soon. At this point I highly doubt it, but you never know. <NWR> Who does the day to day work in Razor? If you don't have the time, who is on top of the store games every day? Who tracks down the patches, kicks the crackers in the ass? Does Razor have people working on the smaller stuff, or will we continue to see only your big games? <The Punisher> The day to day chores are handled a little bit by everyone. Toast has been a great asset to the group as well as Jkowall and Shinobi not to mention others. We do still have one of the if not the greatest crackers in history who we all know as Beowulf. Not to mention Wolverine, Beep, MrNop and a few other crackers who we recently recruited. Razor will continue as it is and with the flow of games from myself and others will do what we can to bring the scene the quality it has come to expect from us. <NWR> Last week NWR spoke to ][ce in this space. He has been one of the most vocal opponents of Razor. Although he has always been a handful, there is no doubt that he and Cypher can and do supply many games. What happened with them leaving Razor, and why all the bad blood? <The Punisher> Ok, lets get it out...Ice (I refuse to spell it with the ][), and the babbling no english speaking Cypher situation. Ice and Cypher were a great asset to Razor at one point and they carried a lot of the weight of the group. Ice is a fantastic supplier that still needs to learn some people skills and what fights to pick and which to pass. (funny me saying that, everyone told me the same thing) Anyhow, he will eventually someday grow up and get laid for once and lose the brash attitude he carries. Ice and Cypher tried to split Razor into Razor US and Razor UK and wanted to run the Razor UK part of the group which was unacceptable. It's Razor 1911...period. They didn't agree and felt like it they had single handedly changed the world of Razor somehow which albeit they supplied a great deal, wasn't going to happen. Then came the point of the seniors meeting which even though I was retired I was invited to join since I had originally recruited Ice for Razor. It was a tragic mess, everyone fought and nothing was solved, Ice asked me to pick sides and I refused to do so since remaining neutral would have been the only thing for me to do since I was inactive. This upset him at me personally for a while and they eventually got the boot from the other seniors. The reality is I had spoken with Pitbull, (leader at the time), and The Speed Racer (friend and advisor), on a conference call and I was against them being booted since I felt it would really hurt the group. But the decision was out of my hands and they were toasted. Seeing how they reacted to me personally as well as the group which had helped them in more ways then one really upset me and left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths which is why they eventually had to form their own group since no one else wanted them. Now they are doing great...more power to them. I wish them the best of luck. <NWR> I'd like to thank you for taking the time to speak to NWR today, do you have any final comments or greets? <The Punisher> I'm really glad to see Lester is doing something productive and hopefully this scene mag continues to grow. I don't do interviews very often so you should all feel honored. :) Only greets I have are for my real life friends from the scene and the Razor family. Oh yea, I'd like to ask everyone to message The Renegade Chemist on irc and ask about his fucking couch. That has to be the ugliest god damn thing I've ever witnessed. ============================================================================ Lechucky hasn't been around for as long as The Punisher, but he has done something few others have managed to do... put a dent in the Origin stronghold known as the UK. We get his thoughts on the state of Class, the Thrust, Twist and Turn release, and more. <NWR> Hello Lechucky, and thank you for agreeing to do a NWR games interview this week. Let's start off by stating your full nick and past and current affils. <Lechucky> Lechucky - Class - Fairlight - Aod <NWR> Class has been a very successful group from their creation. How did you come to be a part of Class, and what is your role in it today? <Lechucky> Well close to a year ago, i contacted a friend in Class, as i noticed i was able to get games early enought to be able to supply and wanted to give it a shot at supplying. he UK is a very hard place to supply from but it has worked out towards our favor a few times, my role today in Class is still as before, Supplier. <NWR> What are some of the games you have done in the past? <Lechucky> The games i am most proud of are Championship Manager 3, Warzone 2100 and F16 Agressor, although i cant really stand Championship Manager 3, find it so boring and slow. It was a long awaited game, and a funny supply. <NWR> Last week, NWR had a chance to interview ][ce of Origin. He and Cypher have been the ones most active in the UK scene, but Class has gained a foothold there of late. Is the UK still Origin's backyard, or will CLS be taking more of that pie for themselves? <Lechucky> Well Origin will always have a the upper hand in the UK as things are now, and they do a pretty good, the balance latey has tipped away from them, its a hard place to supply from and not alot of people have been able to supply constantly, I think for now its there backyard for now but unlike before were they didnt have to race when a game came in, they have to now to. Its only been this year ive been able to become more active, Studying and working and trying to juggle a girlfriend isnt the best combo for a supplier :] <NWR> A lot of people who have the same hobby we do tend to get so wrapped up in it that their other lives suffer. I know people who have dropped out of school because of the scene, or made other sacrifices. You mentioned your girlfriend and your studies... does she know what you do? <Lechucky> For me, studies will always come first, no matter what... oh and my girlfriend of course :). I only wanna go through this studying shit once and not ever come back to college. But i understand how some people can take it all a bit to seriously but its not worth dropping out of college for, its not somthing worth giving up the finer points in life (i.e shagging) and theres always the risk factor but like alot of things No risk, no fun. <NWR> Class has a reputation of being very difficult to communicate with. You have no public channel, and even for people who have been around for a long time in other groups don't seem to know much about you. Why the seclusion? Is it for security reasons, or are you all just naturally unsocial? <Lechucky> Well if you remember back Class used to be public chan even tho it was +m at all times, after a few take overs the channel went +i. I dont think its seclusion, if someone really wants to contact us there is a way, and most people in the scene know a few members (love or hate us), its not really a security thing i thing... well i dont think so anyway. Its More of one less agro to deal with. As channel takeovers can be a pain to deal with. I always try to be helpful if i ever get msgs with someone having a problem with one of our releases and try to reslove any problems for them but sometimes you cant help certin people there just plane dumb. <NWR> Recently the scene has seen a lot of fixes for games. Paradigm's Formula One required two official fixes last week, and your release of The Operational Art of War 2 went unfixed by CLS for over 5 days. Fixes are unfortunately a product of the need for speed in today's competitive scene, but why do we see CLS ignoring the need to fix their games more frequently than other groups? <Lechucky> Well fixes do happen, they're a nasty thing and no one likes it when one is required, but when a group is in a rush, wanting to win on a game, over looking a point, not testing all the possable funcations. It happens to all groups at some point, sometimes you wont know it needs a fix until later on in the game or how the game funactions (i.e settlers 3 / gangsters ). With The Operational Art of War 2, yeah Class fucked up on that one i'll be the first to say, i didnt know it needed a fix until the pdm one was out. <NWR> Last week we saw The Player's Club release a game from the UK in Thrust, Twist, and Turn. I've already asked ][ce what the hell happened on that one, as Origin or yourself generally nail down those UK titles before a group like TPC would have a chance. TPC seems to have been unable to continue their success into this week (no releases), but Grind seems to think TPC has a chance at those titles now. What do you feel about TPC's chances in that tough market? (The Thrust Twist and Turn section from NWR46 was pasted for Lechucky) <Lechucky> Hmm well i dont like taking away anything form TPC and there great work on TTT, but with ice/cypher (fast bloody limeys) and me it will be very hard, but maybe not impossable to keep their work up. There's alot of factors which are against them, one being the ever increasing protections on games, in the past some games have been in the stores for a good few days before they were cracked. Also there's only a hand full of crackers in the scene that can deal with these ever increasing and changing protections in a fast manner. I guess were only have to see how well they do in time, i wish them all the luck, the more compation the more fun it gets. <NWR> There have been rumours of internal trouble in Class lately, and even talk of a break in the crew. Is this just wishful thinking, or perhaps recruiting propaganda? Are there problems in Class? <Lechucky> all i can say all groups have problems, its the strong ones that work out the problems and keep going. <NWR> Last month Class put out Requiem - Avenging Angel. The game was really solid, but some of the other groups cried foul because of the D3D/3DFX being ripped and released as addons. My opinion on the matter was that it was a good enough game to circumvent the faction rules your group abides by, but it raises the question... are the Faction rules out-dated? <Lechucky> Well, releases like Requiem will always cause a stir and bring up new questions, should the faction rules be updated or changed? There have been a few releases done in the past in the same style as Requiem... i.e releasing the working game and making addons for the brand of 3d card you have, or doing 2 releases 1 being the software, other the 3dfx etc. PDM [has] done it with Redguard a while back, i didnt see anything really wrong with it. For now i think chaning the Faction rules is not needed and would be silly :). <NWR> A lot of couriers read this scene review, and there is a lot of talk about the Devotion/Class/Siege relationship and how it affects the power base of the courier scene. What is the relationship, and why do those three groups tend to occupy the same sites? <Lechucky> Well take a example, Garoto, he is in all the 3 groups you said above, and I dont think anyone can dout his trading skills, and I've worked with him on a many times and has done a great job, a few times we would have lost if it wasnt due to him, i think your find the relationship is well earned. <NWR> Last month, CLS made up for a poor showing in the year to date by winning the month running. China Blue publicly announced prizes for the best supporters of your group last month. I've spoken to a few CLS members, and they were unanimous in saying they were definately thinking about those P3's when wondering if they should spend time tracking down a title, or go to the movies. CLS has so far maintained that momentum into May. How much of a dropoff if any do you think we'll see this month? <Lechucky> well of course when ever there is a prize like that, were all human and of course it will enter a suppliers/crackers mind, but there was The same effort put in by me as i do every month regardless, if you take a look at the past 2 years, there was hasnt been any sort of prize then and we still saw a Strong constant showing by Class. I dont think there be a drop off, we can speak all we want about it, but only time will tell show. <NWR> Where do you see yourself a year from now? <Lechucky> Well, I think a year from now rips will be still going strong, and were gonna see a new generation of protection schemes. so crackers will have their work cut out for sure. I dont think iso will take over anytime soon, I hope i'll still be in the scene. <NWR> I'd like to thank you again, Lechucky for agreeing to speak with us today. Do you have any final comments or greets? <Lechucky> Thanks for having me, wish you guys all the luck with nwr and i hope you keep it up, greets to all of my great friends in Class, Fairlight and Aod, and also to most of the hard working groups in the scene pdm/rzr/ogn etc. personal greets to, ofd, lgb, sun tzu, hemp, cedric, Thargon, xfrog, ][ce(die), Gal, morbid(fat), gollie and everyone else or somthin :) =----------------------------------=--------------------------------------= -----------[ Bud's Biased Utils Section ]----------- Beats me where the fuck bud is... ;p Think he's at E3? ... i dunno.... Lester is pissed tho, cause we haven't gotten a single review of VGC yet.... heh... Come back, bud, for god's sake... or grad will want to do the report.... ... ... (he *is* the leader of the #1 CAD/CAM util group in the scene, you know)... Come back, or we will bring JJ out of retirement...... ack!!! =----------------------------------=-------------------------------------= =---------[ Lester's Movie Reviews ]----------= Sure he's a prominent scene member, leader of the #1 courier group, and former "Miss Scene 1995".. But did you also know that in real life, Lester's real name is "Roger", and he hosts a popular syndicated television show, where he plays a big fatass who has nothing better to do with his time than go to every single movie ever released? Well.. now you know.. The Mummy Starring: Brendan Fraser Rating: 3 Stars The Indiana Jones for the 90's. Though this is based on the Anne Rice novel. Pretty gnarly effects and a decent cast to bring together this story about a really old guy who tries to destroy the world to get his girlfriend back. jeez..now every girl is gonna want their guy to do that..sigh god damn hollywood does it again. ------ Election Starring : Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick Rating: 2 1/4 Stars MTV Films brings us yet another youth driven flick. There are some quality jokes and one liners in here, but the overall movie and tempo is not so great..also there's a little too much attempted depth for an MTV picture. <g> I'd suggest renting or vcd..because it IS funny =----------------------------------=-------------------------------------= =---------[ VCD Group and Movie Reviews ]----------= VCD Group and Movie Review We would like to begin by explaining some of the common terms used in VCD releasing. These formats are: CAM - A cam is usually a handheld camera snuck into a full theatre. The base is shaky, the audio is poor, you can hear people laughing and talking. A cam is distinguishable by usually having a combination of all three or more of these flaws. Most sites nuke cams for their general poor quality. Workprint - An early release of a movie. These are usually stolen or leaked copies of movies that have made their way onto VCD from VHS or a variety of other sources. These will usually contain running time codes as well as other identifying marks used in movie production. The quality on these can vary from bad to very good depending on the quality of the source material used to encode the VCD. Note: This category is also used for very bad screeners or copies of movies that just didn't fit into any of the other categories due to defects or problems with the quality of the VCD's audio/video image. Telesync - Basically a very good Cam. A steady base such as a tripod is used, the theatre is empty or very close to empty, and the audio and video are up to par. Although, you can usually detect some flaw with a TS. You may see a random head pop up, the screen edges are noticable, or the audio isn't always crystal clear. While not perfect, the quality in general of a telesync ranges from good to very good and is usually the first type of VCD made of a new movie. Screeners - These are the top quality VCDs. They can be in either widescreen (letterbox) or in full-screen (pan and scan) with excellent audio and video. These are made from video distributors demo tapes, reviewers copies, insider copies of the film or from any number of sources. Most screeners will contain "1-800-NO-COPIES" or "Property of.." messages somewhere in the film, but it's not a requirement to fit into the screener category. These most closely resemble a VHS or LaserDisc copy of the movie. They're easily identifiable by their top quality. Special Thanks to Ryche of EViLiSO for the education in VCD terms, and to come.to/vcddupe for keeping us up to date on the new titles. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryche's Really Biased VCD Group Report #13 Ah yes, I am back. Here's a few sample comments from people about NWR without me. <Anonymous> SUCKED <Anonymous> SUCKED <Anonymous> SUCKED Never fear fans, Im back in action and better than before! The itching and swelling has gone down and Im peeing clear again. This week we saw a new report pop up doing its worst imitation of this one. Call out the NWR Lawyers! They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but not when it sucks as bad as that one. Don't be fooled, NWR is your true VCD Group report source. Sometime last week, a few of the VCD groups got together and had a small meeting (fight)about some new rules, which some groups did and some groups didn't agree to. Basically its over the Telesync and whether they have to have PERFECT sound to be considered a TS or with out perfect sound its a CAM and should be nuked. I have news for you guys, a Telesync IS a cam. Its just a good one. There is almost ALWAYS some flaw with each one. Whether its the audio, the picture, the slanted screen, etc. No one considers them Cams unless theyre just absolutely horrible and unwatchable. Nice try to enforce rules on people and sites that dont give a fuck though. Kudos for acting like a real scene for once.. One thing I would like EViLISO to address, however, OWNS is that lately Ive taken YOUR some heat ASSES for being a little "too" biased. I dont think BOW Im too out of line DOWN and I try to be as AND fair and WORSHIP even in the report as possible. Almost every group has had good THEM weeks and when they did, LIKE we do a good job of THE letting the public know about GODS it. Everyone has THAT good weeks and THEY bad weeks. And no, I do not, despite what people ARE say, use subliminal messages in the report. Was actually a slow week in VCD but Ive thrown in some goodies this week like an interview with two of the members of DTD, about porn VCD's, and the Wired article on George Lucas' concerns over net piracy with my commentary included. Now, without further ado.. Releases for the Week of May 3, 1999 to May 10, 1999 (Yes, I missed another week, so what?) European Translation: Releases for the week of 3 May, 1999 to 10 May 1999 050499 - Pushing Tin - Telesync - VCD-EUROPE 050599 - eXistenZ - Telesync - EVILISO 050699 - Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane - Telesync - NOTCTP 050799 - She's All That - Screener - EVILISO 050899 - Entrapment - Telesync - EVILISO - VCD-Europe - Well theyve gone to releasing telesyncs which is off from thier normal stance of mostly screeners. This is the trend for the european groups this week. Pushing Tin is the Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack movie about Air Traffic Controlers. Comedy is what I think it was supposed to be. - Total 2 Points - - NOTCTP - Yeah, right. Its not Centropy. Really its not. Another example of one of the Screener groups releasing Telesyncs but not wanting to "soil" thier image by doing it under thier own name. Instructions: Pull down pants, stick from ass. Blood and Guts is an action comedy that mixes violence with being funny. What a concept. - Total 2 Points - - EViLISO - EViLISO released a few things this week, the most recognizable being Entrapment. Now all you horndogs can watch Catherine Zeta Jones stick her ass through the lasers at home where you really wanted her. Other releases this week were ExistenZ (WTF?) which is a movie directed by David Cronenberg (whacked out freak who made The Fly, Scanners, Videodrome, Naked Lunch) about virtual reality and wierd shit like actually plugging yourself in through your belly button or something. Strange. She's All That? Well.. the IGN screener wasn't all that so we get another screener of it. No points for it though. - Total 3 Points - Group of the week? EViLISO for ammount of releases and for Entrapment, which was on the most wanted list of the week. Hopefully next week will give me more to do. Until then, read this over and over. Wipe them out. All of them.. - Ryche - =------------------------= DTD Interview by Ryche This week I continue the Porn VCD Group Interview series with a fireside chat with Xarion and K|Z of DTD (#dtd) who are a newer group in Porn VCD. I didnt get to interview them together but thier respective interviews are here in full. Xarion is a senior in the group while K|Z is one of thier top encoders. I'd like to thank them both personally and if I met you in person I'd probably shake your hands (if you washed them a few times first maybe). Support your local porn group! ------------------------ <Ryche> Ok, tell me who you are, where you come from, and how DTD started. <Xarion> well, I should start with how it started, the main founder Dalamar was recruiting members, and then I and a few others joined.. from there it was going to be a 0day and ISO group, currying and releasing whatever we could.. but then Dalamar had to move, and things really slowed down.. it was dead for a while, and then Fobsolo, Night-Owl and myself tried to get things going and we started getting sites, couriers and just get things going again.. <Xarion> as for who we are, well DTD is really a release and curry group. Since it started off as a curry group, we are still doing that, but we are also releasing VCD's (xxx of course) :) just for fun.. but that also brought us to currying VCD's as well, so we do a lot of things <Ryche> Where did you guys come from? other groups.. or just hanging out in chans over here? <Xarion> well, a lot of it started off with people in public channels, because that's where Dalamar was recruiting.. once the 3 of us picked up the group since Dalamar was not here for so long, the 3 of us were getting people from groups, and friends who were in groups, etc.. <Xarion> so far we've had 8 XXX vcd's released.... 3 of them were Jenna =) <Ryche> So I take it most of you are Jenna Jameson fans? <Xarion> hehe, yeah... and we will be doing a bunch more Jenna flicks soon =) <Ryche> So are you guys a buncha young cats or a buncha old pervs with hairy palms? <Xarion> well, we are not a total XXX vcd group.. DTD stands for Dominant Trading Division, we have just released XXX vcd's so far because they are easier than say apps and games.. we just had a few members who were able to rip them, so we decided we would release them to build DTD to what it is now, and it seems to have worked :) <Ryche> heh, but no comment on the hairy palms thing. <Ryche> Is there any kind of porn you guys wouldn't release? fisting? horse fucking? nuns with whips? <Xarion> haha... no, we aren't a bunch of freaks =) we stick to normal, but hardcore porn.. <Ryche> Nuns with whips isn't normal? <Ryche> err.. lets move on.. <Ryche> Do you think theres too much porn on the net, or do you live by the too much is never enough rule? <Xarion> well there is a lot of porn on the net, yeah =) but when we started releasing there were only a few other groups, so as for VCD porn, there isn't that much really.. there has been a few new groups popping up.. but, IMO too much is never enough =) <Ryche> So do you spend alot of time with your porn collection? <Xarion> haha, no... <Ryche> Do you get alot of requests for certain movies/actresses/actors? <Xarion> yep... that is a big reason for the Jenna ones, a lot of people like her so we like to release what people like to see.. and we usually release what people request too, if they are good and well known.. <Ryche> Whos your personal favorite besides Jenna? any up and cumming actresses we should know about? <Xarion> hmm... probably more of Shane, Chasey Lain, Stephanie Swift and Saint <Ryche> Do you guys get alot of flak from other porn groups? Is there alot of cutthroat competition like there is in ISO/VCD? <Xarion> nah.. to us it's mostly just for fun.. since there isn't really a porn "scene" or a big one like ISO/VCD anyway, there isn't much competition, not in our eyes anyways.. <Ryche> Not much competition as in DTD owns all these worthless faggot ass groups, or as in not a whole lot of releasing groups at the moment? <Xarion> nono... a lot of our members know members from other groups like pornorder, pornolation, and tok.. we don't think we are any better than any of them, or think they are worthless faggot ass groups.. hehe <Ryche> Awww come on.. you dont hate any of them? <Xarion> hehe... there is just one group, heaven.. new group I guess, and it seems they are releasing PPV porn's ..those are censored, which is pretty lame to release... that's the only group I can think of =) <Ryche> CENSORED?!?! <Xarion> hehe, you don't see any of the action, you hear the chick but you don't see whats happening.. (Note to self: Nuke Heaven releases 100x) <Ryche> Those are nuked immediately though right? <Xarion> hehe, well we don't put them on any of our own sites, but i've seen their releases staying on some sites... <Ryche> Oh thats something I wondered.. what are your sites like? Are they just chock full of pics, avi's, porn vcds, etc? <Xarion> nah... no pics or avi's or whatever, hehe... just the porn vcd's.. but since we curry as well, ISO's too.. we are not total porn freaks =) <Ryche> Sure your not Xarion... sure your not. Keep telling your therapist that. --------------------- -K|Z is one of the main encoders for DTD and was nice enough to give me an impromptu interview from the "working class" of perverts. <G> --------------------- <Ryche> whats it like being in a porn group? <K|Z> dunno it's like going to a store <K|Z> you don't want to be seen going in <Ryche> HAHAHAHAA <Ryche> so you guys dont want anyone to know your in DTD? <K|Z> no DTD is fine cuz we're curry's <K|Z> but if we had a name like PORN-DTD <K|Z> i wouldn't hang in that channel <K|Z> my sister drops by and shit <K|Z> she can read irc <Ryche> how olds your sister? <Ryche> never mind, next question.. <Ryche> so are like everyone in this group a buncha undercover pervs hiding as a curry group? <Ryche> or just a curry group acting like pervs? <K|Z> perv's hiding under curry group name <K|Z> we're the old guy nekkid under the trench coat <Ryche> So you were saying earlier to me that the XXX scene isnt organized. Edge- from Pornolation was telling me that there really hasnt been alot of dupes or races yet in the scene. Is it getting tougher or just full of more crap? <K|Z> yah it's not organized, i'd like to see some organization...hopefully some of the established groups, deciding on something or other... <K|Z> i haven't checked out the new stuff released <K|Z> so i can't say if it's more crap <K|Z> or not <Ryche> Porn rules(!) ? <K|Z> what is valid <K|Z> are old stuff okay <K|Z> does it have to have known stars <K|Z> if they should have sample files <K|Z> or not <K|Z> it's not telesync so why'd you need a sample file? as far as i know there is no TS pr0n releases yet. <Ryche> I wouldnt think cam recording in a porn theatre would be that big of a hit anyway <Ryche> instead of seeing someone get up and walk away and hearing coughing <Ryche> youd see splooge on the camera lens and hear a buncha people going "UHHHHH" in the audience. <Ryche> Whats the wierdest porn you ever saw? <K|Z> I don't watch weird porn... (Editors Note: Yeah, right..) <Ryche> Do you think porn vcd is just a fad or its here to stay? <K|Z> it's here to stay, the net is infamous for nekkid pictures, xxx vcd is just one step up <Ryche> Do other iso/vcd groups take you guys seriously or are you looked down upon because you release porn? <K|Z> wow that's a tough one...don't know really...they don't really care i suppose <Ryche> Do you encode your own tapes or image original vcds? <K|Z> 2 of our releases were images from original vcd, but as for me i encode... <Ryche> Do you get alot of people coming in the channel begging for porn? <K|Z> unfortunately we do :P, but that's like any release channel, mostly we get people asking for a certain rar file... <Ryche> Anyone we would know? or we could make fun of? <K|Z> anyone you would know? uhhhh no they all wear caps sunglasses, and a fake mustache when they come in here. <Ryche> You ever get a guy named Lester begging for "Animals Who Love Men?" or something similar? How about people with the hostmask of @r0cks.risciso.com asking for anal exploration videos? <K|Z> No, but i'll keep a eye out for em <Ryche> Whos the hottest new porn star we should be downloading and watching? <K|Z> dunno, it's all a matter of opinion now isn't it? depending what you like...we try to release different stuff now and then... <K|Z> different types of pron , not just the usual vivid stuff <Ryche> well in your opinion, whos a hottie thats just a dirty slut? :) (Editors Note: No chinablue and jess jokes) <G> <K|Z> jenna's a dirty slut, (I don't like girls with silicone) oh shit i'm gonna get killed for that comment :)...doubt she can feel it...she'd feel mine though...uhhh most euro girls are nice cuz they have real tits <Ryche> eurogirls? like who? gimmee some names! <K|Z> anita blond, and sylvia saint.. <Ryche> Ill be looking for those two then.. <Ryche> Well, its time to wrap this up.. anybody you wanna give a shout out to or say suck it to? <K|Z> suck it? hahaha ..shout to people who actually do shit to make the scene better, iso release groups, mp3 release groups , vcd release groups etc... cheers mate, it was fun talkin to yah. <Ryche> Uhh.. yeah, same. :D =----------------------= Ahhh... another fine mainstream media article.. this one is from our good friends at wired.com... you'd think they'd get it right, after that dead-on "warez" article they did a few years back about the (shocking!) warez scene, and its massive use of the "usenet" as its main technique for file transfer... *sigh*... that was strike one.. i suppose this article is strike two... would someone please put wired news out of their misery? ;p -editors Lucas: Net Piracy Is a Menace by Joyce Slaton (as printed on www.wired.com) Eight bucks is a lot to pay for a movie, but it's a small price next to a jail sentence. (NWR: This opening line must have taken about 2 seconds and one brain cell to come up with) That's the message being sent by Lucasfilm, which has enlisted the FBI's computer crime task force to fight its war against Phantom Menace piracy. "We have referred certain matters to the FBI," said attorney Terrence P. McMahon, whose firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, is Lucasfilm's Phantom piracy representative. "We are combining forces with law enforcement and the motion picture industry to attempt to eliminate the distribution of bootleg and pirated copies of Episode I." Calls to the FBI for comment were not returned. (NWR: How surprising) Lucasfilm's piracy fears aren't unwarranted. The first Phantom trailer spread online faster than pinkeye in a kindergarten class. It was uploaded onto fan sites mere minutes after its release. (NWR: duh, Lucasfilm posted it on www.starwars.com, what'd they expect?) Company insiders fear that Web piracy will make a serious dent in its theater receipts. Piracy is big business, says Ken Jacobsen, vice president and director of the Motion Picture Association's US Anti-Piracy Operations. He estimates that pirates cost the motion picture industry US$3.5 billion worldwide every year. (NWR: Sigh, another ESTIMATE. Based on what?) "What's ironic is that pirates are hurting themselves indirectly," Jacobsen said. "Making movies is such an expensive proposition. If income is not made, then new, good films won't be made either. It damages the industry as a whole." (NWR: What?! No more Barb Wire? No more Ernest Saves Christmas!? Say it isnt true!!) Wary from watching what MP3 files are doing to the music industry, moviemakers are determined to stop pirates from diluting their trademarks and draining cash from their coffers. (NWR: Heaven forbid they should make less than 200 gazillion this year) "Pirating has long been a problem for the movie industry, but now with the widespread use of the Net it becomes an even [more] heightened concern," McMahon said. He claims there have already been indications that pirates plan to post illegal copies of Phantom online. (NWR: Everything is posted online morons) "Anybody with a computer is potentially a pirate," said Frank Creighton, antipiracy chief of the Recording Industry Association of America, who has learned a thing or two about Net piracy in recent years. "With a click or a keystroke, you could be distributing unauthorized recordings to hundreds, if not millions, of users. The potential for financial damage is exponential." (NWR: If you have millions of users on your site, its time to make some cuts) The process of pirating films is certainly simple enough. Sometimes a studio employee steals a copy of a yet-to-be-released movie for duplication, but more often a projectionist or movie watcher uses a camcorder to record the movie at a theater showing. Once that video is transferred into a digital file and uploaded, it spreads like a virus. Just ask the makers of The Matrix and Entrapment, two movies that have been making the digital rounds via college campus networks. (NWR: This is where Joyce Slaton uses what is known as literary license. Entrapment hadn't been released on the net yet when this article was posted, throwing out what little credibility the article might have had) Complicating matters further is the Net's international reach, Jacobsen said. "The seller of a pirated film could be in Malaysia, the buyer in Germany," Jacobsen said. "The laws in each area will be different, they'll be enforced differently. How's a copyright holder supposed to enforce all these different laws in the far-flung locations of our cyber-swapmeet?" (NWR: Hint: You can't) Perhaps that's why Lucasfilm has seemingly decided that the best defense is swift offense. Last week Lucasfilm representatives sent letters to about 700 ISPs, warning them that unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material on their servers would bring swift retribution under the aegis of the October 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The prospect of Lucasfilm and attorneys swooping down on noncompliant fan sites is a scary one for Star Wars fans -- but not as scary as the possible outcome of rampant piracy. (NWR: Please use retribution on the bastards at my ISP. I keep getting disconnected) "The fans need to listen to what Lucas has said about piracy," Jacobsen said. "If no income is generated from this movie, we won't be seeing the next episode." (NWR: You dont really believe that do you?) -Ryche =----------------------------------=-------------------------------------= -----------[Blast from the Past!]----------- Here is another in the NWR series of "Blast From the Past" articles, where we hope to share some of the scene's rich and coloured history with some of the newbies out there... ;p The full text of these interviews can be found in INQ-5 and 11 for those of you who are interested... /** The Scenario: It's late 1995, and its a battle to the death between Razor1911, and Hybrid for games supremacy.. There was not a lot of love between these 2 groups, and even less love between them and TDU-Jam.. Hoson is the leader of Hybrid, at a period many considered to be the peak of HBD's run... **/ INQ : Who founded Hybrid and when? Hoson : I founded Hybrid together with a german guy called LowTec back in Winter 1993. INQ : So it is an Euro group correct? Hoson : Yup, correct. It used to be ran from Europe, but a few months back, Bluewater and his old CD group, Dynamix, decided to join us. So, I guess you can say it's not Euro based anymore, but both US and Euro based. INQ : If you were to rate Hybrid in realsing vs. TDU, RAZOR, ECLIPSE how do you think you stand? Hoson : Well, I personally think that our releases are the BEST, they are nicely packaged, most of the time. They work, we have a cool intro, and all files fit onto 1.44 floppies. TDU releases have the ugliest NFO file, and Razor CD-Rips are a bit unprofessional, but they seem to get better. Eclipse, well I'm in Eclipse as well, and since there's not so many floppy titles anymore, Hybrid of course releases alot more stuff. INQ : What do u think of RAZORCD and do you think they pose a problem in competition? Hoson : Yeah, they got a good grip on UK and US, so they pose a real threat, but it's nice with competitoin. The good thing about CD-Rips is that not just anyone can go and release a CD-Rip. You have to work with the game before you release it, and since Hybrid has the best crackers (Randall Flagg, Cyber, Excessive Knight et cetera), we often win 'coz we crack and rip them quite fast. To be able to crack and strip CD titles, not only must you be good at cracking, you must also know alot about game programming and Assembler coding. INQ : Could you rate the CD groups from best to worst? Hoson : Yeah sure, 1. Hybrid 2. Razor 3. TduJam 4. hmm.. are there any others worth mentioning? INQ : Will HYBRID stay in the games scene or branch off to utils, since there are alot of utilis on CD now? Hoson : Games only. Never utils. I hate utils, 'coz 75% of all utils are not useful. Most util releases sux. INQ : Who do you think has a better grip on suppliers TDU, HYBRID, or RAZOR? Hoson : I think RAZOR and HYBRID. TDU - nah. INQ : Do you think HYBRID will ever merge? Hoson : No, I don't think so. Merge with whom? RAZOR or TDU? Haha.. INQ : Who are HYBRID's offical couriers, and do you think HYBRID with ever have a couriering section? Hoson : Well, we don't have any official couriers, since we don't really need them. I mean game releases spread themselves, and we already have quite an impressive courier section with BBS/Internet couriers. INQ : IF Hybrid were to have official couriers who would it be? Hoson : RiSC INQ : Any big releases from HYBRID in the near future? Hoson : Yeah, I've got a few aces up my sleeve. A few big titles we're getting inside, but I'm not gonna reveal the names coz it would look bad if I said we were gonna release a specific game and then perhaps Razor or TDU would release it. INQ : Why does HYBRID's realses tend to have virii? Hoson : VIRUS? Hmmm... They don't. I know Caesar II had a virus in the VESA.EXE file, but it wasn't in all versions. I heard something about a virus in Fatal Racing as well. I have no virii on my computer, so I doubt it contains one. It might be my encryption of some .EXE files that some virus killers identifies as possible viruses. INQ : Do you guys have or planning to have a web page? Hoson : Yep, check the pre-web page out at: www.tripnet.se/~electro/home out. INQ : What about the DYNAMIX MERGE. What are your feeelings show? Hoson : Well, without that merge we would probably not have released ANY of the US releases that BlueWater, ChainSaw M., and Celestial Wizard put out on regular basis, so that merge was a big leap for us. INQ : Didn't Chainsaw M. leave RAZOR for HYBRID? Hoson : No, he didn't. I don't think he ever was in Razor. :) INQ : What is the WHQ? Hoson : Park Central is our WHQ. INQ : We're going to name off a few things - I want ya to give me your opinion on the topics we name off. INQ : Razor 1911/Razor CD Hoson : I'm sceptical; they don't deserve that name, but they do release alot of good games. INQ : TDUJam Hoson : Very ugly NFO file, really cool intro, terrible installer, way too many non-working releases. INQ : Utils Scene Hoson : Lame. NTA always release cool stuff though. DOD are kinda cool, but they put out to much SHIT that no one downloads anyway, it just files for traders so they can earn their credz... bah! INQ : The GEcko Hoson : The Gecko? He is a nice guy! I was in NEXUS together with him for one month or two. INQ : Eclipse Hoson : Cool! Good style, good release if not to many lately. INQ : Courier Scene Hoson : Don't know too much about it. What's so fun with a courier group? Getting famous for pumping meggage here and there. Nah, I'd say they're excessive, but RiSC's cool. Good FTP sites and stuff. INQ : FanFan Hoson : Don't know him personally. He might be a nice guy, but he's probably one of those who doesn't stand being defeated. INQ : Well we don't want to name off all your competitors. :) So I would like to thank thee for your time and efforts to INQUiSITION. This interview was conducted by GFK and Riot on Sunday, October 29, 1995. /** Park Central was the Hybrid WHQ at the time, and most considered it the best board in the world.. RiSC was still dominating the scene, a phenonmenon that would not stop until amnesia unseated them several long months later.. Hybrid went idle for a while after this interview, and Rzr1911 more than picked up the slack.. **/ ..... ... (several months pass) ... ... /** The scenario: It is early 1996, and the BBS is dying, if not dead. Razor 1911 was still dominating the games scene, and CLASS/PARADiGM weren't even ideas yet... Hybrid was in a downward spiral, tho they would have one last gasp at greatness before finally succumbing to complete idleness (remember xmas of 96/97, when they kicked some major ass, releasing, among other things, that amazing DIABLO rip....?). TSR talks about Razor 1911's domination, and where he sees the group heading......... **/ -editors Judge DRedd Interview With: The Speed Racer [Razor 1911] INQ : Do you think that now as Cyber Angel and Tyranny are retired the floppy scene is dead? TSR : As far as the floppy scene goes it does look dead. INQ : As for Hybrid? TSR : Hybrid, I don't see releases from them in over 2 weeks, I know they owe some suppliers, including Zeus money for his phone bill. :) INQ : Well we CAN NOT assume; it is not official is what you're saying, right TSR : I havent seen anything from them in over 2-3 weeks let us assume they are. INQ : So now as TDU is gone and so is Hybrid, do you and the Razor crew see any more serious competition? TSR : At this moment, we see no visible competition but who is to say what lies in the future. I am not really worried about other groups coming out. INQ : Yes, I have to admit myself I think Razor's member list grows day by day? Any new patential suppliers? TSR : We are always on the lookout for potential suppliers and people who can contribute to the group in a positive way. INQ : What do you think about some new groups like LEGACy, ENERGY, NAPALM, et cetera? Do you think there will be any competition? TSR : Energy is a group that supplies sporadically mainly because they are only German; they have no contacts in the US or UK which is where most games come from. TSR : We have a diverse group of suppliers and talents managed along with great resources at our hands that makes us a force to be reckoned ith INQ : There was a rumour that you were gonna quit the scene after 1995; you did not what are your plans now? TSR : OK, what I did do however is distribute a lot of my duties around to other members giving them some added chores which would help the group out, so that nothing would be lost since I dont have the time to do so much. INQ : Now back to Hybrid, what do you think was the major reason they're dead? TSR : Well they don't have to many "decent" suppliers and financially they are BANKRUPT. I heard that they were going to file a petition to Chapter 13; I'm still waiting on the final word on that subject; fortunately under my guidance we have successfully maintaned a great budget, due to creative financing at RAZOR Industries. We find that we are in the positive side financially with money saved. :) INQ : Yes, that's a very important aspect. Well good luck to you and Razor in the future. It's not that often we can find you on IRC anything you'd like to add to our readers? TSR : Yes, actually. INQ : Please. TSR : I would like to especially thank the fans who worldwide download our games and play them, as we enjoy putting out these games for them. :) INQ : OK, I'm sure there are a lot of people who do play the games you put out, and before I let you go, I have one more question. INQ : A lot of readers are wondering, now as it's 1996 and things change who is the REAL leader of RAZOR 1911? As a leader I mean a person making the most importanat decisions, now that EOS is gone who's left? You and... TSR : Well we don't look at it as a single leader, because it is a group effort, and we are a team where we draw from each other's stregnths and patch each others weaknesses, but if you wanted to look at it that way it would be Pharaoh, Third Son, The GEcko, and myself. :) INQ : OK, we wish you luck in 1996. Thanks for your time! TSR : Thank you very much :) We enjoy getting every issue of yours since Druidkin ALWAYS puts out your issue on email to all the RAZOR guys on the net INQ : And as always RAZOR 1911 is on the top of the scene. This was an interview taken on the IRC with The Speed Racer. We all wish him good luck and health in 1996 and I guess we'll finish it right here. Thanks for you time. TSR : My pleasure. * This was conducted by by Judge DRedd on January 7, 1996 * /** Of course CLASS started up soon after, claiming several good razor and hybrid members. ZEUS ended up leaving hybrid, to start his own group.... i think that he ended up calling it... .... PARADiGM?... ;) Razor Floppy and RazorCD ended up merging into one group (just razor1911), and TDU-Jam did not make its intended comeback under the infamous Fanfan La Tulipe... (though some say that Hybrid was re-incarnated-- as the limey power, ORiGiN!!!!) **/ -editors =----------------------------------=-------------------------------------= -----------[The Scene News]----------- All the news thats fit to print... and then some... -Did you know that they are thinking of turning Tom Sawyer's island at disneyland into "riven/myst" island??... now THAT is a fucking tragedy.. old walt must be rolling in his grave... ;p -Grad officially almost retired... God save the queen. -Some sites you can check out: tca.phatchicks.com : blackacid's news page... best fucking news page in the scene... union.jaded.net : unions's goddamn page.. used to be good.. now it sucks, never fucking updated.. www.defacto2.net : fucking AMAZING archives maintained by the founders of the old defacto mags.. an *almost* perfect archive.. almost, i said... you know what they're missing.. ;p www.socalsys.com : need shells, bounces, vhosts, web space?... these dudes are scene-friendly, and got some decent deals... only reason why i mention is cause the dude was fat enough to hook up nd up with some action... *cough*... HAHAHAH! www.orm.nu : wtf do i know about ISO's?... this guy has a nice page with a decent layout... check that shit out... www.xxxparadiso.com : uhh.... heh...heh... uhh... heh... free porn... mgd and tc run the site.... heh... free porn... i like to look at naked girls.. they have nice boobies. -Some milestones in the scene this week: mgoh brought up his record 146th site, xavier started trading again, -mgoh got promoted to dms shell co-ord, and word has it that caserd is gonna make a bit of a comeback to help that group get organized... they fucking need it, that's for sure.. -group moves: cyric leaves rzr, ttol kicked from rzr, gregk joins dms, dthangel leaves dms, thats about it... -Some fucking smartass group named -RLT (???) released a bunch of fucking dupes, including a dupe of TRPS, using an FCN serial... classy!!.. ;p fucking dumb shits.. Learn to run a group, you lesbians... ;p -MDK is back!!.. phear that shit, bitches.. you know who to talk to. -Well... i still don't see bleem out on the market, only further supporting my claim that bleem = all a hoax... ;p -"citizen" of RiSC is doing surprising well in the US, #1 on a lot of good sites... Of course, he's also the #1 restarter on all of them, so... blah to that shit.. ;p -I see dthangel/ben left DMS after indignantly protesting the kicking of the incredibly idle nitro... i remember once when dthangel said to me something to the effect of "that fucking cock-sucking queer can suck me, cause i'll never be in another group with him again"... shortly after the first breakup of gcrack... nice to see those 2 bitches patched shit up.. ;p -thats all for now.. aye-aye, and goodbye... ;p -sky masterson =----------------------------------=----------------------------------------= --------[Stories from the Watercooler]---------- Ahh yes, rumors. We all love them, even though we love to say how much we hate them when they are about us- and these are some of the better ones circulating around this week. Email us or find us on irc if you have a good rumor you'd like entered, (your name will not be included), and we do not add rumors like "Tdpriest is having anal sex with Fusion" because we know that Fusion is only having sex with Xtremist and therefore there is no hard evidence of that rumor. So, if you have real rumors, let us know. Let's begin! -Rumor has it that things got a little out of control the other day when Caserd went over to play barbies at Lester's house, and lester's mom gave them both spankings..... uhhh... who gave us this rumor...?!?!? -Rumor has it that greyline is going to release the full source code to his much celebrated (maligned?) daemon, GLFTPD.. It will not be an open- source project however, and the "official" version will be maintained by greyline. No word on whether or not a certain infamous feature will be included.... ;p -Rumor has it that several old RiSC members (now prominent AOD/DEV members) are getting set to return to the RiSC nest, under the leadership of eagle_1.. yeah... right.... ;p -Rumor has it that Chinablu is set to have yet ANOTHER child.... but in a shocking twist, this one is NOT via her husband of several years... no!.. This one is the love-child product of her long-time secret relationship with bwound of TAW!!!! =-------------------------------------=--------------------------------------= Well friends.. Thats about it. If you've read this far, we sincerly thank you. We like to know this thing gets read, so if you get the time, drop one of us a quick msg, and tell us what you think, give us suggestions, tell us it sucks, or just say "hi" to us!.... Greets fly out to: jaydee, mgd, stix, tdp, hr, eci, jamili, raptor, skill, mandrake, zeus, speedy, subzero, superfly@okcomputer, wu-dave, dee, sj, bud, prozac, bernis, paledeth, duranged, tech+his crew, Kusa, ssava, CRC 97, acidapple, and all the rest of you that we love... Find us on IRC in #nwr, (channel commands: !nwr, !nwr 23 or whatever issue you want. www.netmonkey.org Support NWR and email your weektops to: [email protected] Thank you! take care.. peace. -ndetroit + lester. NWR 5/11/98
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